


love at first sight

by Catsby



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Daycare worker Jaehyun, Daycare worker Kun, Daycare worker Taeyong, Love at First Sight, M/M, Single dad Johnny, i don't know how daycares work so yeah i winged it, it's just a lot of fluff and Jaehyun taking care of kids, young Haechan, young Mark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-08-30 02:47:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16756375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catsby/pseuds/Catsby
Summary: Jaehyun didn’t believe in love at first sight or soulmates or anything like that, he just wasn’t the type. He didn’t like getting his hopes up, telling himself that someday he’d meet the one, plus he just thought it was a ridiculous concept.And then Johnny Seo walked through the front door of the daycare and right into his life, and suddenly everything made sense.





	love at first sight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cleonhart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cleonhart/gifts).



Jaehyun didn’t believe in love at first sight or soulmates or anything like that, he just wasn’t the type. He didn’t like getting his hopes up, telling himself that someday he’d meet _the one,_ plus he just thought it was a ridiculous concept. The thought of seeing someone and hearing wedding bells, or touching someone’s hand incidentally and having fireworks blossom in his vision, shivers down his skin and spine, heart jumping as though trying to leap from his chest and into the arms of the person before him - it was just ridiculous.

It probably didn’t help that love wasn’t exactly his thing, not at the moment, at least. He didn’t have time for such a thing with a nephew to look after and a daycare to run. He had his hands full enough with all this, there was no way in hell he could also handle someone’s heart and love and affection.

And then Johnny Seo walked through the front door of the daycare and right into his life, and suddenly everything made sense.

Jaehyun didn’t believe in love at first sight, but he couldn’t deny the way his breath caught when he first locked eyes with Johnny, or the way he found himself at an absolute loss for words when Johnny approached and greeted him with the most stunning smile he’d ever seen and a simple hello. He didn’t believe in something so cheesy as love at first sight, but if it did exist, he could imagine it felt like this.

“Hello?” the tall man repeated, tipping his head to one side with a curious smile. The big-eyed boy he cradled in his arms copied the inquisitive movement, curly black hair flopping and long eyelashes fluttering sweetly. His little round cheeks were rosy, lips pursed in a cute pout, eyes twinkling just like those of the man he clung to. Right away, Jaehyun could tell they’d both stolen his heart straight out of his ribcage.

“Uh, s-sorry,” the young brunet cleared his throat and put on an apologetic smile, hands absentmindedly smoothing down his colorful apron. “What was that, sir?”

And the man’s smile seemed to brighten even further, stealing Jaehyun’s breath yet again. “I know it’s really last minute-” he paused to take a quick glance towards the children seated at the short tables in the main room, all of them already munching on their breakfast snacks with the other teachers, and adjusted his hold on the boy in his arms. “-but I was hoping you’d be able to watch my son today. I have to go out of town, but I’ll be back this evening in time to pick him up.”

Normally, Jaehyun would refuse. Normally, he’d say something about how he’d have to apply and do all the paperwork and then wait to be approved. Normally, he’d be rational, but in the face of the most beautiful man he’d ever met, the words left his mouth before he could even think to stop them.

“Of course we can watch him,” he said. “What’s his name?”

All it took was a little nudge from his father, and the boy gave a shy smile and answered in a voice so sweet it could give someone cavities, “Donghyuck.”

Right away, Jaehyun returned the smile, bending down just enough so he was face-level with the boy in Johnny’s arms. He held one hand out to the wide-eyed boy. “Good morning, Donghyuck. It’s so nice to meet you, my name’s Jaehyun. You can call me teacher Jae.”

One tiny, hesitant hand reached out to grab his, chubby little fingers curling around his index finger for a brief moment before quickly retracting to once again grip the front of his father’s button-up shirt for comfort. The raven-haired man smiled and moved one hand up to soothingly pet the back of his son’s curly head of hair as Donghyuck whispered back, “G’morning.”

Jaehyun resisted the urge to squeal at how absolutely precious the little boy was, instead just offering him another encouraging smile before straightening up, turning his attention back to the man holding him. “How about we bring him into the other room and let him meet everyone?”

He shared a quick glance with his son before nodding. “That’d be wonderful.”

Just like every other kid on their first day of daycare, Donghyuck was reluctant to leave the safety of his father’s arms at first, clinging to him until the man knelt down while holding him and whispered a few words of encouragement. It took a few more long, teary-eyed moments before the little boy finally left his father’s arms and placed his feet carefully on the carpeted floor, and Jaehyun couldn’t help but grin and share a few proud looks with the other teachers as his own nephew came hurrying to Donghyuck’s side.

“Take it slow, Mark,” Jaehyun reminded his nephew, who just flashed him a big grin, one front tooth missing, before leading sniffling Donghyuck over to one of the tables. He smiled as he watched Mark guide the new kid to their seats, still clutching his hand in a gentle, calming hold the whole time even after they were seated.

“What a good kid,” Donghyuck’s father commented quietly as he and Jaehyun walked slowly towards the doorway. The praise made Jaehyun’s heart swell with pride yet again.

“Thanks,” he chuckled, pausing only to reach over and grab a piece of green construction paper and a marker from the top of the shelf up against the wall. “He’s my nephew.”

When he turned back to the man, he found him already looking his way, eyes twinkling and lips curled in a small, amused smile. The attention made his cheeks flush, and he ducked his head to hide the pinkness, quickly jutting the items in his hands out to the taller man.

“Um, I just need your name and number before you leave so we can call you in case of emergency.”

There was a brief pause and then a chuckle as the man took the paper and marker with a soft, “Okay.”

Jaehyun lifted his head, risking a glance at the man’s profile as he turned to hold the paper against the door frame, scribbling his information onto the sheet with the marker. He really was handsome, but those eyes stood out the most to Jaehyun. They were so soft and warm, a caramel sweet shade of brown that he could nearly get lost in. They reminded him of a hug, gentle and protective and comforting - the kind of embrace Jaehyun felt he could just sink into. He quickly tore his gaze away before he could get much more distracted, only to turn back when the man did, returning the paper and marker to him.

“Johnny Seo,” he introduced himself as Jaehyun read over his name and phone number. His cheeks lifted in another breathtaking smile as the shorter man looked up at him, their eyes locking. “Just call me Johnny, okay?”

“Okay,” is all he managed to breathe back in response.

“And you’re Jaehyun, right?”

Jaehyun nodded and then cleared his throat, reaching out to take the taller man’s hand when he offered it to him in a greeting. “That’s right, um, Jung Jaehyun,” he responded, trying his best to avoid thinking about how nice and warm Johnny’s larger hand felt gripping his. Thankfully, as they shook hands, Jaehyun found his mind wandering to something else instead - the lack of a ring on Johnny's finger. Before he could ponder too much on it, though, the taller man spoke up.

“Well, Jung Jaehyun,” he chuckled in a soft voice, pulling his hand back, much to Jaehyun’s silent dismay, “I don’t think I can thank you enough for this. I hope he won’t be too much trouble.”

“Oh, don’t- don’t worry about that, I’m sure we can handle him,” Jaehyun smiled and looked over at where Mark and Donghyuck were still chattering quietly over their morning snack of cookies and orange juice. “I mean, he definitely can’t be much worse than little Renjun over there-” he paused to send a quick glance at the pretty little black-haired boy threatening to throw crayons at the other kids. “-so I think we’re good.”

Johnny gave a sweet, musical laugh that had Jaehyun’s cheeks flushing again and his heart racing in his chest. “Alright, well, I should get going now. Thank you again.”

Jaehyun followed the taller man over to the front door, clutching the sheet of paper with Johnny’s contact information close to his chest without even thinking about it. “It’s really no problem, thank you for trusting us with him. Like I said, we’ll call you if anything at all comes up.”

“I appreciate it,” Johnny replied, and he gave the teacher one more charming smile, gaze seeming to linger on his face and returning smile, before heading on his way out the door, closing it gently behind himself.

Jaehyun let out a breath he didn’t even realize he’d been holding in a sigh and leaned against the wall, eyes stuck on the door, replaying that final kind stare in his mind over and over. He was so caught up in his daydream, he didn’t even hear one of the other teachers, Kun, sneaking up behind him.

“Wow, that was a positively _dreamy_ sigh,” Kun teased and chuckled when the younger man whipped around to look at him with eyes wide in shock. He nearly snorted at the bright flush that bloomed across Jaehyun’s cheeks at being caught lost in his thoughts.

“I just-” the brunet feigned a light cough, glancing away from the blond and holding the paper tighter to his chest. “I’m just frustrated that he came in so last minute, that’s why I was sighing.”

Based on Kun’s doubtful expression, eyebrows arched and eyes narrowed, a smirk playing on his lips, Jaehyun’s little lie wasn’t very convincing. Thankfully, though, Kun dropped it with a shrug of his shoulders and turned back around, waving for Jaehyun to follow him. “Sure, just come help us now, okay? It’s time for class.”

Jaehyun let out a relieved little breath through his nose at being spared more teasing and obediently hurried along after him, only to pause when Kun stopped in front of him just past the doorway and sent a quick glance his way over his shoulder.

“Go ahead and put cute guy’s number in your phone and then put that paper with the other parents’ info.”

Jaehyun couldn’t even bring himself to argue. He just stuttered out an “o-okay” before hurrying past the older man to the desk in the corner to do just that, leaving Kun snickering after him.

 

If there was one thing Jaehyun wasn’t expecting from Donghyuck on his first day, it was this. The small curly-haired boy was sitting in a circle of newly-made friends on the floor, giggling and chattering and playing with the toys in the middle of their little circle. Even though he’d branched out and made new friends since the morning, Mark still sat right beside him, and their hands were still locked together tightly, just as they’d been all day long. So far, Jaehyun had only caught a couple times when they weren’t holding hands, like when Donghyuck had to eat the rest of his cookies before Jeno could grab them, or when Mark had to swipe a plushie from one of the taller shelves to give to Donghyuck.

It was already clear to see just how close the two had bonded, even after such a short time, and it really warmed Jaehyun’s heart. So much so, in fact, that he didn’t even hesitate to bring his phone out of his apron pocket and snap a picture of the couple of munchkins giggling, heads tipped together as they shared some little joke just between the two of them. The image made him grin, and he wasted no time in texting it to Johnny with the caption, _“Just a quick update - Hyuckie is fitting in super well!”_

“Texting your boyfriend?”

Jaehyun glanced up to see the other teacher, Taeyong, looking at him with an amused expression, eyebrows raised high above his eyes suggestively. He had half a mind to lovingly tell him off but instead just hummed in reply, “Hm, I’m single, actually.”

“Oh, really?” Taeyong chuckled and walked over to start gathering the mats for naptime from the cupboard. Jaehyun followed along, taking the few rolled-up mats Taeyong handed him. “Based off what I saw this morning, I would’ve thought you two were married. I couldn’t believe you both were making eyes at each other like that right in front of the kids.”

That made Jaehyun splutter, his cheeks going red. “We weren’t _making eyes_ at each other, we were just- we were _looking_ at each other. You know, that thing people do when they talk and meet for the first time.”

“Uh-huh.” Taeyong’s expression of doubt reminded Jaehyun of a similar face Kun made at him earlier, and his blush just darkened in response. He had to turn his head away while the dark brown-haired man went on, “Well, all I’m gonna say is don’t start making out in front of the kids. Or me, for that matter, please.”

Jaehyun nearly choked, and he heard Kun burst into laughter across the room, no doubt getting a kick out of the way his face was red all the way to the tips of his ears, visible even at that distance. He held his tongue, save for a few embarrassed grumbles, as he went about helping the other two teachers get set up for naptime, moving the tables, unrolling the tiny mats, and spreading them about the large room.

Herding the kids together for naptime tended to be rather difficult, and today was no different. As usual, Chenle refused to sleep without his favorite dolphin plushie, Renjun and Jaemin tried to start not a pillow fight but a pillow _war_ over their “princess” Jeno, and Lucas just wouldn’t stop running circles around Kun. The youngest of the bunch, Jisung, was a perfect angel, of course, but only for Taeyong. No matter how many times Jaehyun tried to get him to lie down, he kept asking for Taeyong, so the two of them switched places, Jaehyun going to play mediator between great pillow warriors Renjun and Jaemin while Taeyong gently convinced Jisung into getting into his little bed.

By the time all the kids were settled down, Chenle cuddling with his dolphin, Lucas passed out face-first in his pillow after running so much, Jeno already snoring away while Renjun and Jaemin glared at each other over his head, Jaehyun had nearly forgotten to check on his nephew and Donghyuck. He scanned around the room, finding them just in time to see Kun kneeling between their mats, whispering softly to a teary-eyed Donghyuck.

He walked over, taking careful steps between the drowsy children, and whispered once he was in earshot, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Kun lifted his head and gave a somewhat relieved smile at the sight of the younger man. “Hyuckie’s a little scared I think.”

“‘m not,” Donghyuck huffed immediately and ducked his head under his blanket as soon as both men turned to look down at him, sniffling and whimpering shyly.

Jaehyun offered the boy peeking from under the blanket a smile and kneeled down on the other side of his mat. He sent Kun a quick little glance, telling him he could go silently, and Kun took the signal gratefully, letting out a light breath through his nose before standing up, knees popping. Jaehyun would have to tease him about being old later, but for now he held his tongue until Kun left and then turned his attention the boy staring up at him over the edge of his blanket.

“So what’s going on, Hyuckie?” he whispered, bringing one hand up to brush his fingers soothingly through the young boy’s curly hair.

Donghyuck was silent, save for another quiet whimper, and flicked his gaze away to the side, pulling the blanket up just a little higher, nearly to his eyes. 

Right before Jaehyun could ask him what was wrong again, Mark chimed in from his mat beside Donghyuck’s, “He misses his dad.”

Jaehyun paused, glancing at his nephew with raised brows, before looking down at the black-haired boy staring up at him. “You do?” he whispered, and when the boy nodded shyly, Jaehyun’s lips turned up at the corners in a soft smile. “Well, hey, you’ll be able to see him really soon, okay? I promise you. After you wake up, it’ll just be a little longer, and then your dad will be right back here to scoop you up and take you home.”

Donghyuck seemed to relax a bit just at the very thought of seeing his dad again soon, but he quickly started whining again a mere second later, tears sparkling in his eyes as he looked up at Jaehyun. “B-But daddy always hugs me when I sleep, it’s scary without him here.”

There was a moment of pause before Jaehyun lay down on his side next to the little boy with a soft grunt. He bent his elbow to prop his head up, chin on his palm, and smiled warmly at Donghyuck. “Will I work for today?”

Donghyuck’s big eyes widened even further, and then he quickly nodded, dropping the blanket from his face to reveal a big smile, the brightest grin Jaehyun had seen on his face all day long. It made his heart swell in his chest, and that feeling of protection and love only grew when Donghyuck reached over to grab Jaehyun’s other arm with both tiny hands, pulling it up to drape over his chest.

Jaehyun couldn’t help his own grin as he glanced over at Kun, who was watching with an impressed expression, and Taeyong, who was looking at him like he was looking at a puppy and a kitten cuddling up together. Turning his attention back to the matter at hand, he lay down flat and kept his arm resting over Donghyuck’s chest, feeling his gentle, slowing heartbeat as the young boy drifted to sleep.

It was oddly comfortable, even though he was lying on the floor. His hip was sure to be aching when he got up at the end of naptime, but he couldn’t really bring himself to care, more focused on watching the sleeping child beside him with a soft smile. He wondered what Donghyuck was dreaming about, if he was dreaming of his dad or of all the friends he made today or maybe something else entirely. Maybe he’d ask him when he woke up, or maybe he’d hold his tongue and let the young boy keep those happy dreams to himself, a nice secret memory of his first day at daycare.

His pondering was interrupted when he spotted the tiniest bit of movement on the other side of Donghyuck. He lifted his head just enough to peer over the young boy, and he found himself nearly overwhelmed with pride at what he saw. Mark had reached across the little gap between their mats to gently grab Donghyuck’s hand, holding it just as they’d done all day long, his eyes closed and a small smile on his face. His nephew really was a good boy.

He lay back down flat with a soft, happy sigh through his nose and found himself relaxing even further against the floor, a wave of peacefulness washing over him, warm and silky like a blanket fresh from the dryer. He could nearly fall asleep like this.

 

“Teacher Jae?”

“Hey, uncle Jae?”

It took a few tries before Jaehyun finally stirred from the two pairs of tiny hands shaking him, grumbling and groaning as his eyes fluttered open to find two cute, refreshed faces staring down at him. Upon recognizing them both, his cheeks lifted in a big smile, and he reached one hand up, drowsily ruffling Mark’s hair and then Donghyuck’s, greeting them both in a yawn, “Hey, you two.”

They both returned his smile with bright, beaming grins of their own and then stepped back to let him sit up. The energetic little duo immediately went on chattering all about what they saw in their dreams while Jaehyun forced himself to stand on still half-asleep legs, right away jumping into naptime clean-up with Taeyong and Kun. While he went about the big room, picking up mats and carrying them and the blankets over to the cupboards to put away, Donghyuck and Mark trailed along after him, right on his heels, talking nonstop, and he listened intently to every word they told him, paying as much attention as he could despite the drowsiness still weighing on his mind.

“Oh, you saw a giant lion?” Jaehyun asked, stifling a yawn as he glanced down at Mark, who nodded back right away. He handed another rolled-up mat to Taeyong before flashing his nephew a smile. “How big was it?”

“Bigger than this whole room!” Mark exclaimed, and Donghyuck gasped beside him, suddenly grabbing his friend’s arm and looking at him with wide eyes.

“That’s the biggest lion ever!”

Mark nodded excitedly again, and Jaehyun gave a soft laugh.

“That is a super big lion!” Jaehyun agreed, flashing Taeyong a smile when the younger man glanced his way with an entertained expression. “Was it scary at all?”

At that, Mark shook his head. “No, no, he was a nice lion, he was just reeeaally big. He had huge teeths and gigantic claws! Like- Like his claws were bigger than uncle Jae’s head!”

That _almost_ felt like a jab, but Jaehyun laughed anyway.

Once all the mats were finally cleaned up, Jaehyun hopped to assisting Taeyong move the tables back, and Donghyuck and Mark even “helped” too, pushing together on one side of the tables as the two teachers moved them, the two men following the directions in which the little helpers pushed. It took just a bit more time than usual with all the help, but before long, they had the room all set up for the afternoon class, and the kids obediently took their seats once Kun rang the small bell hanging over the teacher’s desk in the corner.

While the kids were focused on Kun’s afternoon class, Jaehyun stood at the back of the room next to Taeyong, watching in case any of the children got too distracted or needed help understanding anything. In the end, though, he was the one to get distracted, as a buzz from his phone in his pocket alerted him to a new text message. He sent a little glance Taeyong’s way, only to get a shrug and sideways smirk in return.

With a light huff, he slipped his phone out of the pocket of his apron and pulled up the message, smiling automatically when he saw who it was from.

_“That’s the cutest picture, I’m glad to see Hyuck looking so happy.”_

“Got a message from your future husband again?” Taeyong teased him, and Kun shushed him from the front of the room, giggles erupting from the kids, all of them thoroughly amused at the sight of one of their teachers getting in trouble. Taeyong gave a sheepish grin and a small bow, apologizing quickly before Kun could make an example of him.

Jaehyun just rolled his eyes and looked down at his phone again, quickly texting back, _“He’s been doing really good today. Naptime was kind of difficult, but we made it.”_

_“Yeah lol your coworker sent me a picture of the three of you.”_ And mere seconds later, an image popped up on Jaehyun’s phone screen, a picture of himself with his arm draped over Donghyuck’s chest while Donghyuck held Mark’s hand, all three of them sound asleep.

Jaehyun’s eyes widened, and his cheeks burned in embarrassment. He quickly lifted his head, looking suspiciously between the two of his coworkers, trying to ascertain who could be the culprit of this betrayal. Unfortunately, they each just gave him teasing smiles when he met their eyes, and he nearly groaned. It was probably _both_ of them, working in cahoots, but before he could say anything about it, his phone buzzed in his hand again.

_“I’ll be heading that way soon, but I honestly might be late. That meeting took longer than I thought, my apologies.”_

Jaehyun took a moment of pause to check the time on his phone and frowned. Considering the fact that this afternoon “class” - he glanced at Kun doing magic tricks at the front of the room - had just started, they should have about an hour and a half left. Surely that’d be enough time to make it back. He looked down at his phone again, texting back, _“It’s okay! I’m sure we’ll be plenty busy til you get here.”_

With that, he slipped his phone back in his pocket and headed to the front of the room right on cue, a big grin on his face as he joined Kun in his next magic trick. He was sure Johnny would make it back right on time.

 

Well, at least Johnny didn’t lie to him. “I honestly might be late” indeed, Jaehyun thought to himself as he glanced at the clock for the fourth time in the past ten minutes. It was already nearing 6:30pm. All the other children had already gone home for the day, but Mark and Donghyuck were still right here with him, Taeyong, and Kun. 

Mark was used to staying after the day was over, since Jaehyun usually had to stay late to help clean up, but this was Donghyuck’s first day here. He was really expecting the poor kid to have a much more worried and frantic reaction to his father being an hour late picking him up, but, surprisingly, he actually didn’t even seem to notice. If anything, he almost seemed happier to have the whole place just to himself and Mark.

Jaehyun sat in one of the too-small chairs and watched the two kids play in the floor with some of the toys he’d left out to keep them busy. They both were too engrossed in their playing to even notice the passage of time or the way Jaehyun bounced his leg anxiously, every passing minute fueling his worries that something happened to Johnny on his way back.

Johnny’s a _stranger,_ Jaehyun suddenly remembered, and he found himself getting flustered at the thought. Right, he had actually forgotten that he just met Johnny that morning, that he’d just met Donghyuck that morning, that he barely knew anything about them other than their names and what they looked like. It was embarrassing, to be thinking so fondly of Johnny already, but he couldn’t help it. His mind always just seemed to wander back into that style of thinking.

He shook his head with a little sigh. This was surely just a phase. He’d just met Johnny, this very tall, handsome guy about his age who was _exactly_ his type and who might’ve been single, so of course his mind would automatically go to “oh, I can date him.” Plus, he had one of the sweetest kids Jaehyun had ever had the pleasure to look after. Anyway, surely this infatuation would eventually fizzle out if they became regular visitors. It was just that Johnny was new and shiny, that was the only reason he felt this way, that had to be it. Jaehyun _did not_ believe in love at first sight.

And yet when he looked up to see Johnny standing in the doorway with a big smile on his face, long arms outstretched to his son, those deep eyes sparkling like a nighttime sky, he found himself falling all over again.

“You’re late,” Jaehyun said as he walked over to Johnny, making sure to put a light scolding tone to his voice despite the smile on his face at the sight of Donghyuck literally leaping into Johnny’s arms.

Johnny hauled the little boy up with an over-dramatic groan and hugged him close to his chest, similar to how he’d done that morning. Then he turned those eyes to Jaehyun, and Jaehyun nearly melted like a piece of chocolate under his warm gaze. “Yeah, sorry, I had to drive a couple towns over to a meeting, and then there was a lot of traffic on the way back. It was just a mess.”

“It’s okay,” Jaehyun forgave him immediately without even thinking about it, but he didn’t have time to beat himself up for being so soft, as two arms wrapping around his legs distracted him. He looked down at Mark and smiled, bringing one hand up to ruffle his black tufts of hair.

“Is Hyuckie leaving now?” Mark asked, and Jaehyun was shocked to see the little boy’s lips purse in a pout. Mark never pouted, no matter what. Even when Jaehyun scolded him for running indoors or swiping cookies from the other kids or told him to go to sleep when he wasn’t sleepy, he _never_ pouted.

Jaehyun lifted his head to look at Johnny, brows arched in hopes Johnny would understand how shocking this was. Thankfully, the taller man seemed to get it right away, as he returned his look with his own raised eyebrows and then looked down at the pouting boy clinging to Jaehyun’s legs.

“Yeah, it’s time for Hyuckie to go home,” Jaehyun said softly, threading his fingers through his hair again. 

Unfortunately, his words just made Mark whine, and the young boy nuzzled his face into the side of Jaehyun’s thigh. “I don’t want him to go, wanna keep playing.”

“Can we keep playing, daddy?” Donghyuck asked, his sweet voice surprising Jaehyun and making him lift his head to look between the young boy and Johnny.

Johnny returned his look of surprise once again, and they stared at each other before it just seemed to click into place for both of them. There was absolutely no way they could separate these two kids, not after how quickly they bonded in just one day. It would simply be cruel to separate them.

“How about we come back again tomorrow, huh?” Johnny asked, his eyes flicking to Jaehyun again in silent permission. When the smaller man nodded his head, Johnny visibly relaxed, and a big smile spread across his face. “Then you two can play all day long, just like you did today.”

Both kids immediately lit up, Donghyuck’s eyes widening and sparkling with joy, and Jaehyun laughed when Mark starts bouncing excitedly on his heels, looking down to see the huge grin on the young boy’s face.

“Hear that, Hyuckie?” Mark asked, scooting right up to Johnny, who set his son down to join Mark in his energetic little happy hops. As soon as the younger boy was in reach, Mark took Donghyuck’s hands in his own and smiled at him. “We can play tomorrow too!”

“And the day after that?” Donghyuck asked, hesitation on the edge of his voice as he glanced up at his father and teacher. When they both nodded, he broke into a fit of giggles and grinned at his friend. “We can play and watch teacher Kun do magic and eat snacks and-”

Jaehyun interrupted him by reaching one hand out to ruffle his hair, smiling when both boys look up at him. “How about you two go ahead and get ready to go home, okay? Taeyong, can you and Mark show Hyuckie what all to do?”

He sent a quick glance Taeyong’s way, and upon hearing his name, the older man looked up from the crayon drawings on one of the desks and gave a big smile. He came right over when he saw both kids looking at him expectantly, reaching down to take their hands and lead them towards the entranceway. “Alright, so first what we have to do is…”

Jaehyun and Johnny stood there a moment longer, watching with fond smiles as Taeyong helped their children put their shoes on. Donghyuck hopped around with one shoe on like a clumsy baby flamingo, nearly falling before Taeyong grabbed him and placed him gently on his rump on the little step of the entranceway. Both men shared a chuckle before turning to look at each other.

"So,” Johnny started, his eyes searching Jaehyun’s for _something._ Being stared at so intently made Jaehyun’s heart beat ten times faster, and he held his breath, putting on an urging smile. After a while, Johnny went on quietly, “Uh, what kind of paperwork do I have to do?”

For a split second, Jaehyun wasn’t sure what he was talking about. Paperwork? What for? He didn’t need to do any paperwork to ask Jaehyun out on a date.

And then it clicked, and he let out a soft “oohh” and shook his head, flustered at himself to getting so caught up in his thoughts again. “No, no, uh, don’t worry about that. I’ll handle all that for you.”

“Really?” Johnny asked quickly, tipping his head to one side in that cute puppy-dog style he’d done earlier that morning. Jaehyun felt like his heart might stop if this big lug kept being so damn adorable.

“Yeah, really,” Jaehyun assured him. “I mean, I might have to text you for some of the information, but it’ll save you having to do all the paperwork yourself.”

Johnny paused, and he seemed deep in thought, eyebrows pinching together just slightly, eyes narrowed and serious, lips pressed in a firm line. It took him a few seconds before he finally said, “I really appreciate that, but-”

Oh, dammit, Jaehyun messed it up. It was probably suspicious of him to just be like “don’t worry about it, I’ll do all your paperwork myself,” wasn’t it? Now this guy was just going to think he was some creep who really enjoyed paperwork or something. He really didn’t, though, he _hated_ paperwork, but he thought it’d make it easier on Johnny, seeing as how he had to raise a kid 24/7. Jaehyun knew from experience that trying to focus on important documents while watching a rambunctious kid was nearly impossible, so he was just trying to help, but, nope. Now he’d just be “that creepy paperwork guy” for the rest of the time Johnny knew him.

“-I was thinking maybe you could help me fill it all out over a cup of coffee.”

Jaehyun froze. 

Oh.

Oh, okay.

“A- A cup of coffee?” he stuttered back.

Johnny cleared his throat and glanced away, bringing one hand up to scratch at the base of his neck. He put on a charming sheepish smile and answered, “Uh, yeah. I mean, if you don’t like coffee, I’ll understand, I just-”

“No,” Jaehyun interrupted quickly, then took a breath and smiled up at him. “I love coffee.”

The light that suddenly sparked in Johnny’s eyes at that made Jaehyun giggle, and Johnny couldn’t help but chuckle along with him. “Okay, great! We can bring the kids along too, maybe make it a little playdate.”

Jaehyun glanced over and smiled at the sight of Mark helping Donghyuck shrug his backpack on while Taeyong watched proudly. He looked back to Johnny and nodded. “Yeah, I think they’d really enjoy that. I would too.”

“So would I,” Johnny agreed softly with another chuckle.

And that was all it took. Not to convince Jaehyun that love at first sight was real, but enough to convince him he _wanted_ it to be real. When he looked at Johnny, he didn’t hear wedding bells or see fireworks or anything like that. No, rather, he felt as though he had room. He felt as if, even with juggling looking after Mark and helping to run a daycare, he somehow finally had enough room in his life for this big guy standing in front of him and his precious little son too, and he loved it. It may not have been the stereotypical love at first sight, but he wanted it to be _his_ love at first sight.

And so it was.

**Author's Note:**

> hopefully it's not AWFUL  
> i tRIED MY BEST OKAY  
> i've had the cravings to write a daycare au with johnjae for weeks now and then dia's birthday came up and so oF COURse i had to do this  
> this was written in one day so yeah rip
> 
> also because i have no idea how daycares work, i mostly used that ep of monsta x ray where they go to the daycare as reference for like the schedule and stuff, i just winged the rest so like if you work in a daycare please dont hurt me??? i tried??
> 
> yell at me on twitter [longerassride](https://twitter.com/longerassride)


End file.
